Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1787 - 1786 - Dead but not Dead

Ryl was not happy. It was clear as day that they were upset that their new games were cut short by the 3 Divine Realm cultivators.

Lind was amused by the fact a World Realm had zero fear of Divine Realm cultivators.

The snow dragon man showed not a single sign of his earlier disdain as they flew over the land. Ryl was on his back and found a new way to entertain themselves.

They were playing with his mane!

It tickled but he had been through far worse. His own children when they were younger had planned assaults on him in groups!

As they flew, the jian, Xuye, informed him of the reason for seeking him out.

"There were powerful fluctuations to the far east and north of our territory. There is a valley there that is key to the rise in temperature for the area. It was ruled by a bear from the Southern Continent." She continued to give the overview.

She was the strongest Master Tier in the area, above all 3 of them. Lind followed thus far. Still, a battle at the Master Tier should have destroyed the valley.

They had been curious but the power was not of battle, just very strong echoes across the area.

Suddenly, it cut off and many of the animals fled the valley in terror, yet when they went to investigate, they found a mystery.

The mighty bear had bright azure claws with midnight black fur was sprawled at the deepest part without a single injury on her. Yet, there was no sensation of life at all.

The immediate area was damaged as if there had been a fight, but not a drop of blood was on her body. Further, there were no other auras detected.

Lind frowned even more deeply. He could see why they sought him out.

If the body had been withered, it might have been almost a Fiend attack!

Yet, even then, a Master Tier could fight back enough to flee. There was also the matter of no beasts fled until after the fluctuations stopped.

Why not flee before? None of them had an answer.

It took the better part of a year to get to the valley. The temperature did rise but not as much as Lind had been told to expect. He looked at them but saw confusion on their faces. They had not known of the ice encroaching once more!

He flew down and examined the new areas that were frozen. Ryl was quick to dive in but stayed out of his way. He was about to extend his aura when theirs spiked.

He quickly turned only to find them growling at the ground. He was confused but then Ryl snapped their tail and the newly made snow vaporized into mist. Yet, the older snow did not even budge.

The snow dragon man instantly appeared and frowned deeply.

"That is not natural. It is wrong, but only after I examine it did I feel it." Unnatural snow? Lind let his aura extend and also found the world felt wrong.

It was not vile. It was not corrupted nor anything they feared but it was not right either. It was like something was missing but he could not put his finger on what.

Still, why would Ryl and the snow dragon man dislike it so much? He felt no strong revulsion. He examined the soil at the overlap and felt like the warm side was growing cooler even as they stood there but not due to the encroachment of the ice.

It was damned odd.

Lind had the jian move ahead with him while the rest stayed back. Ryl tried to follow but he sternly told them to wait.

As they advanced, while no resistance was met, the dead silence was accompanied by the feeling of wrongness. The trees were still green, the brush a healthy growth, and all the plants just fine in appearance.

Yet there was not even an insect left in the valley. It should be a place of nature in its cycle of life and death of any wild place.

Finally, he felt it. The distortion ahead was far more powerful but the Xuye did not seem bothered. She was not using her aura so it might not be as strong, yet Lind could almost taste how wrong the place had become.

What was the feeling? Why could he not place it?

The massive body of the bear appeared. It was in the midst of broken trees but unlike what was described to him, he felt the damage was far more mundane.

It was not the damage of battle but of a thrashing figure. There was no one else, just the bear. He carefully saw the shattered trunks and ripped up soil. There was no Master Tier power, just raw physical strength.

His emerald eyes narrowed as he took in the body. It was not dead! It was not alive either!

There was not a single sensation of a soul. He knew what that felt like very well. The physical body, however, was not dead, just suspended. He doubted many cultivators would know what that looked like.

Had there been some kind of deviation, but why? Why would she continue to try and do whatever she was doing if it caused such a catastrophic result?

Mystery upon mystery piled up but the greater one was the external issue. Why would the state of the bear spread to the land? She was a mid Master Tier from what he could tell.

It was only when he examined her dantian that he got a real shock.

The layers were still there! Her foundation was not gone at all but the harmony was!

Nothing made sense so the accusation that she was murdered suddenly held more weight. The method, however, eluded him.

The body should be dead and the foundation destroyed if the soul had been extracted. It should have also ravaged her body as the soul was fused to everything in the Divine Realm.

Even a Fiend could not so neatly pull off what he saw.

"Well?" Xuye snapped him out of his analysis. He looked at her standing there calmly, the contrast gave him an idea.

"Hold still." He gave no more warning as he examined the jian’s body. His eyes went wide and he moved quickly. Technically, she was older than him and more powerful but his Origin Mysteries leveled the playing field.

They appeared by the 3 left behind but he transformed into his dragon shape and took them all away quickly.

They tried to resist but he did not allow them to even attempt to do so. Only Ryl acted like it was a new game and bared their fangs as they howled in joy.

Only when the feeling of wrongness was gone did he stop.

"What was–?!" The hawk woman was angered but Lind ignored her as his mane moved in a blur. Sigil after sigil flared to life before a weaving array was engraved into the air. Qi, Mystery energy, and origin power all flowed into it.

The instant the barrier settled, the imbalance was stopped cold. Now all 3 of the Divine Realm cultivators could feel it. Even Ryl, with their limited senses, began to growl.

Lind looked on as his weaving, made at the peak of his skill, was being weakened even as they watched.

"It was not murder. I do not know why but that bear tried to do something that resulted in a state of dead but not dead and it is spreading!" The 3 looked at him in pure confusion but there were no better words.

The method was critical to know yet it was somehow infectious! No wonder the other beasts ran away. To stay was to be pulled into the cycle of death.

It was death eventually too as he now understood what was happening. It was not vitality but the very essence of what made a soul alive. The bear was still alive because somewhere the soul still existed.

That was not the case for the weaker lifeforms. Heaven and Earth was trying to compensate but it was only causing a kind of false recovery. The issue was the source!

The imbalance of a Master Tier, much like any power they had, was affecting the Divine Lands. The miracle of not slipping into true death was causing an issue without resolution!

His weaving was slowing it down but that was all he could do. He could erect weaving after weaving and it would exhaust him without stopping it.

His mind raced trying to grasp what he could do. There had to be a solution. Killing the body may not work as the soul was still alive. It was possible the body would heal much like any living Master Tier.

The 3 beasts were of no help as they had not understood the nature of what was happening. He was missing the context as well so he had no idea how to stop the process.

Ryl came into his sight and a spark lit in his mind. The bond of the pack was a connection on a fundamental level between two beings but that could be extrapolated to the soul and body of a Divine Realm.

What was once separate was now fused into one!

His aura flared and locked onto the bear’s body and returned to the dantian. The harmony was missing. It had to be fused to the soul but to keep the body alive, a connection had to remain!

His own harmony flared and an emerald line shot out before it touched the body. The line shot outward in a random pattern until finally a faint figure was connected!

The ephemeral bear was writhing in pain. Life, Death, and Samsara layers reacted instantly in his dantian. The body twitched in a reaction as sweat poured down his back.

Immense resistance was fighting him to return the balance to the dantian. The 2 harmonies danced in his vision until a single, tenuous, crimson line was pulled back towards the body.

He fell to one knee and knew he was running out of power fast! Lind focused and just as it seemed to slip away from him, the crimson touched the flesh. A powerful shockwave shattered his weaving and sent them all flying.

He only had time to protect Ryl with his body and aura before blackness claimed him.